Alan Jenkin's new piece at Tom Paine is now live. In this latest essay, Alan expresses hope and dread over Disney's decision to finally feature an African American princess in one of their films.
There’s an old joke, retold by Woody Allen in the film "Annie Hall,"
in which two elderly women are having dinner at a Catskill mountain
resort. One of the women says, "Boy, the food at this place is really
terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions."
I had a similar reaction when I heard last week that Disney would soon
be releasing its first film to feature an African-American “princess”:
It’s about time; and I kind of wish they wouldn’t.As the father of two young girls, I’m immersed in princess-land and,
for that matter, everything Disney—from the excruciating "High School
Musical" I and II to the mildly redeeming Cheetah Girls franchise. And
as the father of two young African-American girls, the effort to find
positive role models in whom they can see themselves and who have
resonance in their world is both exhausting and frustrating.
Printer-friendly version
